When you’re running an old or low-end PC, hardware upgrades are an important step in keeping Windows running smoothly. With a low amount of RAM or an old spinning HDD, you’re going to run into performance issues regularly.
But once you have a reasonably future-proofed PC, upgrading to a slightly faster SSD or adding a bit more RAM won’t have as great an effect. Instead, you should turn to tweaking Windows settings to eke more horsepower out of your system.
Windows power plans
Don’t let your resources go to waste
Image by Amir Bohlooli. NAN.
It’s easy to miss, but Windows offers power plans to control how much energy the system consumes. By default, it’s set to a balanced plan, which is good for general usage and saves battery on a laptop.
But if you want to get as much performance as possible, especially on a desktop where battery life isn’t a concern, you should switch your plan. To do this, type “Control Panel” into the Start menu to open it, change the View by option at the top-left to Small icons if needed, then pick Power Options from the list.
In the resulting menu, click the button for the High performance plan. If you desire, use Change plan settings to adjust exactly how it works.
Using this plan will disable some power-saving hardware features, allowing your CPU, storage disk, and other components to respond quicker when you need them. If you don’t mind extra power usage, this helps your existing hardware feel more responsive.
Startup apps
Don’t let everything get going at once
Screenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required
Apps running at startup are one of the biggest wasters of your computer’s resources. Not only do they increase the amount of time it takes for Windows to start responding, but they sit in the background during your entire session, consuming CPU bandwidth and RAM.
To prune this list, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager, then click the Startup apps tab on the left (which looks like a speedometer). Go through the list sorted by Status; for anything that doesn’t need to run when you boot, click Disable.
In case you’re not sure what something is, choose Properties at the top-right, or use the options under the three-dot menu to view the file’s location or search online. If you don’t use it soon after you start your computer, every time, then disable it.
It’s wise to regularly take a look through your startup apps, since new programs often add themselves as startup items without telling you.
Storage Sense
Leaving some free space is crucial
Screenshot by Yadullah Abidi | No Attribution Required.
Even an ultra-fast SSD can’t perform at its best when it’s maxed out. Storage drives need breathing room to avoid stalling; ideally, you should make room before you run into a problem.
The best Windows setting to control clutter is Storage Sense, which is like the old Disk Cleanup tool, but more modernized and automated. Hit Win + I to open the Settings app, then go to System > Storage > Storage Sense to access it.
Here, you’ll see various options that let your computer automatically clean itself up. For instance, you can set Storage Sense to clean up unnecessary files when your disk space gets low, delete old files from the Recycle Bin or Downloads folders, and remove downloaded cloud files so they’re online-only.
I don’t recommend automatically clearing out your Downloads folder, since you might want to keep the items there, but cleaning up temporary system files when your space gets low is a good baseline. Keep at least 10% of your disk space free, and you shouldn’t run into storage-related performance drops.
Less impactful, but useful options
The three Windows settings above are the most impactful on how your computer performance feels, especially compared to hardware upgrades. Beyond those, there are smaller tweaks worth looking into. They might not do a ton on their own, but are worth a look if you want every bit of performance.
Background app permissions
Screenshot by Shan Abdul – NAR
Like on Android and iPhone, Windows Store apps can run in the background, using resources when you don’t want them to. For any apps you don’t want to uninstall, it’s worth removing this permission so they don’t suck up resources.
Visit Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Next to the app you want to adjust, click the three-dot menu and choose Advanced options. Under Background app permissions, select Never if you don’t want the app to run in the background, or Always if you want it to be as responsive as possible.
Change search locations
If Windows search feels slow, you can adjust where it looks; a reduced scope returns results faster. Visit Settings > Privacy & security > Search to view the relevant options.
Under Find my files, I’d recommend setting this to Classic, as searching your entire PC is resource-heavy. It’s also worth adding any folders you never want to search to the Add an excluded folder menu—especially if those folders are massive. Click the Customize search locations text for fine-grained control.
Alternatively, there are tons of great Windows search apps that provide a better experience.
Windows Delivery Optimization
Screenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required
Windows 10 and 11 include a feature for more efficient delivery of Windows Updates that you might not be aware of. It’s one of many default Windows settings that slow down your PC. Under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization, you can choose to Allow downloads from other devices.
Enabling this means your PC uses a BitTorrent-like network to send pieces of updates to other computers. This can improve the reliability of updates if you’re on a poor connection, and saves bandwidth when downloading updates on multiple machines.
Depending on what you choose in the dropdown menu here, you’ll share update parts with either devices on your home network or devices across the internet. I’d recommend setting this to Devices on my local network, so your PC isn’t spending bandwidth to provide updates to random computers. If you experience problems with it, turn it off.
Windows settings to take you beyond hardware upgrades
If you’re on a modern PC with a solid amount of RAM and an SSD, these tweaks will help you get more performance from Windows without spending a lot more for a marginal increase. They each affect different parts of Windows, allowing you to devote the full power of your hardware to the parts of your PC you care about most.
For more tweaks, why not check out free apps that make an old Windows machine feel like new?
